The current financial crisis places heavy burdens on many businesses. One of these is an inevitable rise in disputes, whether caused by internal strife within an organisation or because external suppliers and contractors are pursuingunpaid debts orfailing to fulfill contractual responsibilities.

How should organisations deal with difficult situations like these?

Forward thinking businesses in Scotland and elsewhere are using creative approaches, supported by lawyers and advisers who understand that the financial, human and opportunity cost of unresolved conflict and especially of time-consuming litigation can usually be avoided.

They look for mutual gains and common interests. There will often be advantages in finding common ground and looking for new ways to perform a contract or deliver a service. If a commercial property deal is dead in the water because the funding arrangements are radically different from what they were at the outset, no amount of argument about legal entitlement will change that fact. But there may still be a mutually worthwhile development opportunity if you are willing to look at matters afresh.

To do that, you need to separate the people from the problem. So often, a breakdown of trust occurs and matters become personalised. Even in the most hard-nosed of commercial contracts, it usually boils down to personalities.

If you continue to show courtesy towards your opposite number, regardless of whatyou think of him or her or what they have done, you are more likely to maintain a relationship which will produce an acceptable result. That is not asoft touch approach: excellent negotiators are robust on the issues but respectful of individuals; and they know the difference.

Often a dispute is not about what it seems to be about. You must search for the underlying needs and concerns of the others. What is really drivingthem? You may well discover that the real issues are different from those on the surface. We need to separate the symptoms from the true causes.

To solve a dispute, we usually need to find new angles, new ideas and to be creative. We need to find out as much as we can about where others are coming from and what their side of the story is. And we should be prepared to get into their shoes and try to see it from their point of view. To do that well, it is helpful to avoid bottom line thinking; most bottom lines are predicated on our own limited state of knowledge. What if something new appears? Beingboxed inbyhavingtakenup too resolute a stance can be self-defeating. Keep an open mind, flexibility is vital.

If you are asking questions, you also have to listen. Really listen. What do they mean? What are they not telling you? What lies at the mar-gins?Whatwould they sayifyou didn't cutin or pre-empt their answer? Good listeners are great negotiators - it takes really hard work to listen well.

And watch your language. Toxic language is a major cause of failed negotiations. Think aboutwhatyousay-before yousayit.

Ausefultoolintheeffectivenegotiator'skitis a willingness to acknowledge where other people are comingfrom, their hopes andfears, and to recognise difficulties which they maybe facing. That does not mean agreeing with or accepting them. But a dispute can often readily be resolved if one party has the courage and skill to let another save face.

That can be achieved by making a unilateral concession. A sign of weakness?

Not necessarily. Good negotiation can be aboutidentifyingwhattheotherpersonneeds which is of less importance to you and then offering it. You will often find that this will break a logjam and stimulate a reciprocal gesture. Of course, this is not risk free - but neither is prolonged unresolved conflict.

Tempted to walk away from a negotiation? Nothappy with the outcome? Resist the temptation to measure the resulton the basis of how much you are paying or how little you are getting. The real benchmark is what happens if I don't resolve this now? What will it cost me in time, money, hassle, loss of business and reputationalrisk?

And, finally, remember the big picture. Manyofus fail to work out what we really need and, when the going gets tough, lose all sight of the overall objective as we seek to score points at every opportunity. Just as micro-management can be a hindrance, so too can getting lost in the minorirritationsofa dispute.

Ifthegoingis tough, orifyousimplyprefer to have abit of help in a difficult negotiation, call in a mediator. Many businesses and organisations in Scodand and elsewhere make regular use of mediation. A mediator does not decide oroffer an opinion. Heorsheassiststheparties to communicate and to work out their own solution. It is a powerful and remarkably successful approach.

'If a property deal is dead there may still be a worthwhile development opportunity if you are willing to look at matters afresh'

'A usefulta negotiator's kit is a willingness to acknowledge where others are coming from and to recognise their difficulties'

John Sturrock is founder and chief executive of leading business mediation service, Core Solutions Group, and ranked in the top 10 of mediators in the U K